Holiday, A Professor Layton Fanfic
by CompleteLaytonTrash
Summary: Clive spends time with Layton and crew during 4 different Holidays. Fluff ensues (Finally finished, hooray!)
1. Halloween

Holiday

Halloween

Summary: Clive and the Layton crew spend some time together during the holidays. Fluff ensues.

It never occurred to Clive that holidays were celebrated in the Layton household. He remembered celebrating them during his childhood, but once he got put in prison, he didn't celebrate anymore. They didn't celebrate holidays in prison, so when Clive woke up to Luke sitting on top of him, excitedly talking about Halloween, he was very confused.

"Luke, you know I'm way to old for that, right?" Luke pouted, crossing his arms.

"C'mon Clive! You're never too old to trick or treat!" Clive sighed, sitting up.

"Luke, I'm 24! There's no way I can even pull off looking like I'm your age, not to mention looking like I'm young enough for this!"

"Well, we're not going trick or treating just anywhere! The professor said we can go trick or treating at Gressenheller! Even the staff get to dress up and go door to door!" Clive stared in awe, his eyes sparkling with childish wonder.

"Even the professor dresses up?!" Luke nodded hastily.

"Yep! Even the professor dresses up! Me and Emmy dress up too! I'm going as a black cat this year, and Emmys going as a ninja! I could get you a costume too if you want!" Clive grabbed Luke's shoulders, his eyes sparkling with excitement.

"I want to dress up as a witch."

Luke had to take a moment to register what Clive just said. "You want to be a what?" Clive leaned in, smiling.

"I said, I want to dress up as a witch." Luke smiled, nodding.

"Then I will get you a witch costume!" He hopped off the bed, tugging at Clive's sleeve. "C'mon! We gotta tell the professor!" Clive quickly got out of bed, running behind Luke as he was dragged into the kitchen. Layton was standing by the stove, brewing tea for himself.

"Professor! Professor! Clive has a Halloween costume he wants to wear!" Layton turned around, tipping his hat to Clive and Luke.

"Well, thats good to hear. What costume do you have in mind?" Clive put his hands on his hips, a proud and determined look on his face.

"I want to dress up as a cute witch!" Layton had to hold back his laughter. He nodded, composing himself.

"I think I could arrange that. Emmy has some old witch costumes in her closet. Go ask her about it." Luke nodded, excitedly running off with Clive in tow to find Emmy.

It wasn't long before the two found her. All they had to do was listen to the sound of a training dummy being struck and follow it until they found her. She was in her room, sparing with a training dummy. "Hi Emmy!" She turned and looked over at Luke, who had Clive behind him. She flipped her hair out of her face. "Oh, hello Luke! Why does Clive look so embarrassed? What did you do Luke?" He pushed Clive in front of him. "We need to get Clive a cute witch costume! Professor told me that you might have something!" Clive almost immediately covered his face in embarrassment. Emmy nodded, walking over to her closet and pulling out a witch costume and handing it to Luke. "Try this. I have a few others, but give this one a go before we try anything else." Luke happily took the costume and sprinted into his room, dragging Clive behind him. Once the two were inside, Luke shut the door and handed Clive the costume.

"I'll wait outside while you try this on. Let me know when I can come back in, ok?" Clive nodded, watching as Luke darted out of the room and shut the door behind him. Clive quickly undressed and put the costume on, looking at himself in the mirror. The dress was frilly at the bottom, each ruffly layer colored a new shade of purple. The sleeves and collar were ruffled at the edges, tinted a slight pink. The belt that went around his torso had little celestial markings on it. Stars, moons, and suns decorated it. The hat was big, almost too big, and sat lopsided on his head. He noticed it had a little ribbon around the bottom of the hat that matched his belt. The hat also had a little crescent moon on a string hanging off the tip. He also had on fishnet tights with laces tied over them, and high heel boots to top it all off. He quickly dashed over to his closet, opening the door and sliding behind it.

"I'm done! You can come back in Luke!" He silently closed the closet door, standing inside and waiting until he heard Luke walk in.

Luke bolted into the room, looking around for Clive, who was nowhere to be seen. "Uh, Clive? Are you in here?" He looked at his side of the room, wondering if he might've decided to hide behind the bed or something like that. He felt a small tap on his shoulder. "Behind you." He turned around, only to see Clive standing fully dressed in a witch costume, staring down at him. Luke's eyes sparkled with excitement as he grabbed Clive's hands, spinning him around.

"You look amazing!!" Clive couldn't help but smile. He thought he looked like an idiot in the costume, especially to Luke. He was so glad that Luke actually liked it. When Luke finally stopped spinning, he hugged Clive. "I'm so happy!!! You look so amazing in the costume!!" He let go, grabbing his Clive's hand. "C'mon! We gotta go show the professor and Emmy!" Clive nodded, running out of the room with Luke.

The two first ran downstairs to find Layton. It was easy to find him, as he was sitting on the couch drinking tea. He glanced over at Luke, then had to do a double take when he noticed Clive. "Clive! My goodness! I almost didn't recognize you in that outfit!" Clive sheepishly glanced down at his shoes. "I know. I look pretty different, don't I?" Layton nodded. "Yes, yes you do. I like it though. It looks good on you, although I could never pull something like that off without looking like a fool." He set his cup down and stood up, walking over to the small storage space in the corner of the room. He opened it up and pulled out a slightly bent broom, handing it to Clive. "Here. No witch is without a broomstick, yes?" Clive happily took it, smiling as he held it beside him like a staff. "Yep! Every witch needs a broomstick!" He felt Luke tugging at his sleeve, making little whining noises. He glanced down at him. "What is it?" He pointed upstairs. "We gotta show Emmy!" Clive nodded, rushing upstairs with Luke in tow.

They bolted into Emmys room, nearly scaring her. "Oh! You're back! I didn't think that'd happen! Is it not fitting well?" Clive shook his head, immediately hugging her. "It's perfect!!! I love it!!" She hugged him back. "Well that's great! I was hoping you'd enjoy wearing it." She let go of him. "However, I wanted to ask, why do you want to dress up as a witch anyways? I'm not trying to be rude! I'm just... curious." He got all flustered, pulling his hat down over his face. "W-well... I used to dress up like this when I was little. I loved to read books about witches and wizards, so I wanted to dress up as one. My parents were completely fine with it, as long as it was appropriate. Most of my childhood Halloween costumes were things like witches, dragons, knights, and even fairies. Sadly, Constance Dove didn't let me do that when I lived with her. I've wanted to dress up ever since then, but I'm an adult, and I can't exactly trick or treat anymore, so I gave up on those old ideas." Emmy put a hand on his shoulder, pulling his hat out of his face.

"Well, Gressenheller University doesn't have stupid rules that say you can't dress up! We always go trick or treating there because we can all dress up like we did when we were kids! Heck, the professor dressed up as a werewolf last year!" Clive's eyes widened. "NO WAY!" Emmy nodded, a smirk on her face. "Yes way! And guess what? He's going as a vampire this year!" Clive shook his head. "That's- ok I need to see that." She pointed to the door. "Well, go wait in your room with Luke. We all still need to get in costume. I think the professor might actually be doing that right now." Clive nodded, dashing out of her room, almost injuring himself from tripping on his heels, and ran into Luke's room. Luke darted after him, yelling for him to wait up.

"Luke! Emmy! Clive! Come downstairs! We're going to leave for trick or treating!" Thundering footsteps signaled the three had heard him, as moments later they all came stampeding down the stairs. Clive had a small basket in hand, ribbons neatly tied around it. Emmy was in her ninja costume, attaching a small pouch to the belt of her outfit. Luke was fully dressed to look like a black cat, holding a large basket lined with a baby blue cloth. Layton opened the door and the four walked out to the Laytonmobile, which had been decorated with window stickers and streamers to make it look spooky. Luke was the first one to jump in, followed by Clive, and then by Layton and Emmy. They sped off towards Gressenheller as quickly as possible.

Once they reached the university, they all got out of the Laytonmobile and ran inside. The entire lobby was fully decorated with Halloween themed decorations. Bats hung from the ceiling, skeletons were placed up on the wall, and Halloween themed banners were all over the place. Clive looked around in amazement. He had seen Halloween decorations before, but never to this extent! Layton put a clawed hand on his shoulder, pointing to a skeleton hand near the stairs. "That's where we need to go. I've done this enough times before that I know it completely, so I'll show you the ropes." He led Clive and the others up the stairs and into a large room filled with students and staff, all of which were dressed up. Clive spotted a few kids that had decided to dress like Layton, Luke, and Emmy. He spotted a Don Paolo in the corner by the punch bowl, a Descole standing next to a Layton, and even a Dimitri.

"Professor, is it normal for the students to dress like that?" He pointed at the few who had decided to impersonate Layton, Emmy, and Luke. Layton chuckled, nodding. "Of course! They can dress up as whoever they want. I've had some odd students that dress up as some very odd people. One dressed up as Loosha one year, and I had a Specter that was in my class, as well as an Anton. I think I saw a Masked Gentleman one year as well, but I may be mistaken." Clive looked around, seeing only the Luke lookalikes. "Um, I hate to ask, but has anyone ever dressed up like me?" Layton shook his head. "Sadly, it's forbidden. It's mostly due to the whole 'leveling of London' part, but I've heard talk of a few rebels who manage to slip in with the Luke's, though I'm not sure if this is true or not." Clive shrugged, picking up Luke and holding him like a baby. "Well, why don't we get to trick or treating? I need to get some treats for my kitty!" He pet Luke's head, hugging him. Luke hugged Clive back, making purring noises in between giggles. He set Luke down and took his hand. "Well, let's get going!"

The four walked over to a door with another skeleton hand, heading through into a long hallway. "This is where the trick or treating happens. Each door has a different staff member behind it, one who's willing to give out candy. Some of them aren't willing to give out sweets, but tricks and puzzles. The ones that have puzzles will give you double the amount the others will if you solve it, but if you can't, they pull a Halloween prank." Clive tightened his grip on the basket he had and sighed. "Well, no point in waiting around! Lets get to work!"

Clive and Luke split off, running around to each door. Clive was lucky nobody recognized him in his costume. He even had Emmy do his hair in a certain fashion just for good measure. He held Luke's hand the whole way and assisted him with every puzzle they came across, even taking a few Halloween pranks for him. Layton and Emmy had gone off to the other side of the hallway to wait for them. They had finished their trick or treating long before Clive and Luke got close to finishing. Once the two finished, they made their way over to Layton and Emmy. Clive had a few fake spiders still stuck hanging from his hat due to a prank, and Luke looked exhausted. "We're finished. Honestly, I never knew saving your friend from Halloween pranks could be so exhausting." He slumped over, his hat falling over his face. Layton laughed, pointing to the lobby. "They have some Halloween themed food we can eat in the lobby. I assume you two are ready to go home, seeing as you both are exhausted." Luke perked up immediately and Clive looked up from his slumped over state. "Food?!" The two excitedly shouted at once. Emmy shrugged, sighing. "Well, you two are too tired to go eat, so we might as well go home." A slight smirk crossed her face. Clive immediately picked up Luke and sprinted at full speed towards the lobby. Layton and Emmy followed, trying not to laugh at the display Clive had caused.

When Clive got to the lobby, he set Luke down, took him by the hand, and ran towards the tables with food. The two grabbed the largest plates they could find and stacked them high with every bit of food on the table, then ran over to one of the dining tables and took their seats. Luke glanced over at Clive's plate, which had more food than the one he had. "Clive, are you sure you're going to be able to eat all that? I always remembered you being a picky eater, and you didn't eat much at all either..." Clive looked at him, his face half stuffed with food. He quickly swallowed, then set his fork down. "Luke, you do realise I did all that I only ate like that because I was impersonating an older, more mature version of you. To tell the truth, I actually eat quite a bit. It's a miracle I'm still this thin." He glanced over at Luke's plate. "Seems I actually eat a tad bit more than you!" Luke scoffed, shoving a whole cupcake in his mouth. Clive snickered, attempting to hide it. "Well, you don't have to get all unhappy about it. I am older than you after all, it's not a bad thing that I eat more." Luke rolled his eyes, grabbing another cupcake off his plate. "Sure you do. Try me when I'm super hungry and I'll beat you at that." Clive shrugged. "Whatever Little Luke."

Layton and Emmy walked over, sitting down beside Luke and Clive. "So you two aren't exhausted after all?" They shook their heads, pointing to the food tables. "Go get yourselves something." Clive grabbed a cookie off his plate and broke it in half, giving one half to Luke and shoving the other in his mouth. Layton shook his head. "No thanks. We're not hungry at the moment." Clive shrugged, finishing off the cookie he had. Luke got up, putting his plate in the nearby garbage can. "We should head home. I need a nap." Clive stood up and put the rest of the cookies he had in his basket, then picked up Luke, who looked about ready to fall asleep. "It was exhausting, that's for sure. Tell you what, we can head home and you can nap while I sort out the candy. Sound good?" Luke nodded, curling up in Clive's arms. They all headed out to the car, getting inside, and went home.

Luke fell asleep on the way. Clive let him use his shoulder as a pillow while he sorted out the candy in his basket. Emmy and Layton chatted up front, keeping their voices down so Luke could sleep. Once they reached Layton's flat, Clive carried Luke out of the car and up to their room, letting him sleep. He gave him a hug. "Thanks for the great Halloween, Luke. I'll chat more with you once you wake up." He set Luke in his bed and then went to work on the candy, maybe sneaking a few for himself in the process.


	2. Thanksgiving

Holiday

Thanksgiving

Summary: Clive and the Layton crew spend some time together during the holidays. Fluff ensues.

Clive had never particularly enjoyed Thanksgiving. When he was young, he was used to seeing the cousins that were always older than him and his obnoxious aunts and uncles. He was used to a casual dinner that was just a modified version of his regular meals, and not receiving any presents from anyone. When he lived with Constance Dove, it had been the same, but slightly more boring. He had no family to see, no larger meal, and still no presents. Even prison had neglected to celebrate it, which made sense, because it's prison, and nobody is thankful to be there.

He first noticed something was off about that day when he smelled a heavenly aroma coming from the kitchen. He had been reading a book about steampunk robots when he got a whiff of the smell. He assumed it was Emmy baking something, and shrugged it off, but when the smell of turkey and mashed potatoes drifted up to his room, he found himself going to investigate.

He started by figuring out which scents were which on the way down the stairs. He picked out quite the variety within the first few steps. "Mashed potatoes, garlic bread, turkey, is that raspberry pie I smell?" He bolted downstairs and into the kitchen, looking around frantically for where the smell was coming from. Emmy turned around, holding a pie in oven mitt covered hands. "Oh! Hello Clive! I assume you smelled the pie, judging by the fact that you're staring at it and drooling?" He quickly wiped his mouth, nodding. "It smells so good!" He stared at the counter, which was piled high with food. "What even is all this for?! We're not having guests, are we?" She shook her head. "No silly! It's Thanksgiving! We always make a feast, and we give out gifts too, but you can't tell anyone I told you that!" Clive nodded, quietly sitting down on one of the stools at the counter.

"So, wait- were going to have a big meal? No guests?" Emmy nodded. Clive slumped over, looking at his feet. "Oh... ok..." Emmy set the pie down, leaning over the counter to face him. "Listen, nobody is really acquainted with the fact that you're not a bad guy now. Randall and his friends and family still see you as a villain, we can't invite over anyone we knew in 'Future London', and I don't think anyone from my family, Layton's, or even Luke's would be ok with it. We're trying to work it out, but it'll take time. At least you get to spend time with us!" She gave Clive a small smile, which he responded to by turning away from her. She sighed, turning back to the kitchen. "Well, if you're going to be like that, then go be unhappy on the couch. I don't need you whining while I work." Clive slowly got up and shuffled over to the couch, flopping onto it.

Luke came skipping down, dashing to the kitchen to see Emmy. Clive listened in as she told Luke about how he was being grumpy on the couch, and almost immediately heard Luke sprint into the room. He didn't bother to look up, and probably should've, as the next thing he registered was Luke landing directly on top of him, causing a loud yell to escape Clive. "Hi Clive!" Clive groaned loudly, attempting to shove Luke off of him. Luke just scooted up so he was positioned on top of Clive's back, being careful as to not crush him. "Luke... get off..." Luke shook his head. "Sorry! No can do! Emmy told me to cheer you up, and I'm not getting off until I do!" Clive sighed, giving up on trying to force Luke off. "If you get off I'll be a whole lot happier..." Luke laughed, pushing Clive's hat over his eyes. "I'm not falling for that! I know the perfect way to make you happy!" Clive attempted to push his hat out of his face, but was stopped by Luke, who grabbed his arms and pinned them down. "Luke, what do you think you're doing? Let go of me before I go get the professor." Luke smirked, then poked at Clive's sides, getting a small squeak in return. "Luke that's enough please get off now!" Luke poked at him again, needing to use all of his strength to keep Clive down.

Clive struggled against Luke as hard as he could, only to be attacked by more poking to the sides. He bit his lip, hoping Luke would stop soon. He didn't want to look like a fool. He started to struggle, attempting to pull his arms out of Luke's grasp, but was met with more poke attacks. "Luke! T-thats enough!" Clive stifled a few giggles, but ultimately broke seconds after. Luke let his mischievous smirk turn into an evil grin as he changed his attack pattern, causing Clive to burst into a squeaky, laughing mess. Clive hadn't actually heard himself laugh this hard in years, and was almost surprised at how high pitched it was in comparison to what he thought it would be. He let out a squeak any time Luke decided to jab his fingers into a weak point, and soon became red faced, a signal for Luke to let up. Luke finally stopped flopping on top of Clive and giving him a hug. "See? I told you I could make you smile!" Clive sighed heavily, trying to calm himself. "Maybe... you could... warn me... next time... you do that..." Luke laughed, pulling Clive's hat out of his face. "Nah! It's more fun to surprise you like that! You're always too predictable, and watching you get unpredictable surprises is fun!" Clive groaned, pushing himself up so he was sitting, then pulled Luke into his lap. "Now I'm tired, and I hate being tired." He rested his chin on Luke's head, wrapping his arms around him. "But I'm not going to stay mad because you're my friend and you're small, and adorable, and I know you were only trying to help, but don't do it again without giving me a warning." Luke smiled, leaning back onto Clive. "Sure thing!"

Layton came into the room, a concerned look on his face. "Is everything all right down here? You sounded like you were in trouble." Clive shook his head. "No, I'm fine. Luke decided to tickle me until he was sure that I was genuinely smiling." Layton sighed, shaking his head. "Seems quite unnecessary, Luke." Luke shrugged, slipping out of Clive's arms and then dashing into the kitchen. Layton sat down next to Clive, placing a hand on his shoulder. "Are you alright? You are exhausted, I can see that, but you are acting aloof. Normally you'd be much more confident about yourself right now. Is something wrong?" Clive rubbed the back of his neck, glancing over at Luke and Emmy. "Well, Emmy told me that you guys aren't going to have any guests over for Thanksgiving, and I was hoping to meet some new people." He straightened his suit, sighing. "I'm just, ugh. I know I sound like a buffoon right now, being unhappy about something stupid like that. I've been aloof because of that, and because of the fact that I'm not used to how you all handle holidays. Emmy told me that you all have a feast, and give gifts. When I was young, I only got a modified version of our regular meals, and obnoxious family members, and they don't celebrate holidays in prison, so I never got any sort of exposure to this way of doing things." Layton nodded, pulling a small, folded paper out of his coat pocket.

"Well, we're here to help you get used to it. After all, you'll be living here for a while, so you'll need some time to understand how we all do things here. It's only natural." He handed the paper to Clive. "Here, Luke wanted me to give this to you. I can't say what it is or what it means, but I'll tell you one thing: you'll need to think about it." He stood up and headed for the kitchen, joining in with Luke and Emmy. Clive unfolded the paper, scanning the page carefully. "A riddle? Well, I suppose it's only natural he'd give me something along those lines." He turned the page so he could see the words better, then read it to himself.

"A gift awaits, dressed in the sky. A clue to find, hidden in warmth. A note to read, awash in flowers. A holiday hidden in the earth waits for those who can solve this riddle." He reread the note a few times before getting up and looking around in hopes he may find a hint or something. Layton noticed Clive had begun investigating and smiled. "Clive! Here's a little hint to help you. Look for something that matches the sky." Clive nodded and ran upstairs, beginning his actual investigation there. "Something that matches the sky... hmm." He glanced around at the walls, looking for something out of the ordinary. "All the walls here are the same color. Maybe I'm not looking in the right place." He walked past his room, then stopped, backtracking so he was standing in the doorway. "The walls here are blue! I'll check here first. Maybe my intuition will help me find this 'gift'." He walked into the room and looked around. He noticed a small blue box on his bed, tied together with a white ribbon. "Ah! A gift that matches the sky!" He picked it up and opened up the small piece of white paper attached to the ribbon.

"The box of the sky now in your hands, locate the clue in the warmest lands." He carried the box downstairs, repeating the line to himself in his head. "Clue in the warmest lands? Now where could that he hiding?" He glanced at the kitchen and noticed Layton, Luke, and Emmy were gone. He sighed and continued looking, deciding to worry about the fact Layton and the others were one for later. He stared at the fireplace, then quickly went to investigate, noticing a small note amongst the coals. "Clue in the warmest lands! The fireplace!" He picked it up, brushing off the ashes. "To receive a hint, put a hint coin into each slip of paper." He decided it was probably best to get a hint to make the process go faster. He pulled a hint coin from his pocket and slipped it into the 1st paper slot, watching as the slip of paper fell open, revealing his first hint.

"Assuming you can not fathom where the next listed thing is, take a long look at this hint. 'Check outside.'" Clive closed up the hint and placed it into his pocket. He headed for the door, going outside and walking around the back to the courtyard. "There's no possible way they could hide this 'note' in the front. It'd be too noticeable." He looked around at the flowers that lined the edges of the garden. "Huh. These are really well taken care of. I assume Luke does all that since the professor clearly doesn't have enough time to care for them himself. I'll have to tell Luke what a good job he does later." He walked on the edges of the garden, carefully searching each flower bed. He noticed a set of flowers different from the rest and searched through them, finding a small flower resting on top of a large piece of paper. He picked up the flower and the paper and read over it.

"Dear Clive, if you are reading this, it means you've found the last piece of this riddle. You've done well to locate this in such short time. Now, all I ask is that you wait here until Luke comes and gets you. He'll tell you the rest when he gets there." Clive sighed and sat down on one of the benches, childishly kicking his feet to try and distract himself from boredom. It wasn't long until Luke showed up, although Clive was oblivious to what he was about to do. All he heard was a small twig snap before a blindfold was thrown over his eyes and tied tightly. "WHAT IN THE-" He reached for his pocket knife, but before he could grab it, a small hand grabbed his wrist and stopped him. "Hi Clive!" He sighed, putting a hand on his forehead. "Luke, what in the world was that for?!" He went to take off the blindfold before Luke grabbed his hand and set it down. "No peeking! I'll guide you too where we're going, ok?" Clive carefully stood up, grabbing the gift he had off of the bench and taking Luke's hand, allowing himself to be dragged over to wherever they were going. He could tell that they were going back inside when he heard Luke open the door to the flat. The room he was pulled into was completely silent, but he could tell that there was food, since he was overwhelmed with a flurry of delicious scents the moment he stepped foot into the room. Luke pushed him forwards until they reached what Clive assumed was a table. Luke pulled the blindfold off of Clive's face, revealing Layton and Emmy sitting at the table, a massive feast in the center.

"Wh-what's all this for?" Luke took his hand and pulled him to a seat. "It's for Thanksgiving! We always have a feast on this holiday!" Clive hastily sat down, trying not to drool over the food. Layton picked up his glass and tapped it with his fork, directing everyone's attention to him. "I'm glad you could join us Clive. Now then, why don't we all say what we're thankful for before we eat? It is tradition after all." Everyone nodded. "Alright. I'll go first. I'm thankful for my lovely apprentice, Luke, my wonderful assistant, Emmy, and my good friend, Clive." Luke excitedly propped himself up on the table, a joyous look on his face. "I'm thankful for the professor, Emmy, and my parents!" Emmy picked up her glass, holding it up to the center of the table. "I'm thankful for the professor, Luke, and the fact that we're all friends!" Everyone turned and looked at Clive, who picked up his glass and held it to the center. "W-well... I'm thankful for the fact that I'm not in prison anymore, and the fact that you all have forgiven me for my misdeeds, and the fact that you all are my friends, and... uh..." He covered his face with his hat, blushing with embarrassment. Emmy gave him a light push, sighing. "Don't be embarrassed!" Clive smiled sheepishly, pushing his hat out of his face. Layton cleared his throat. "Cheers to a fantastic thanksgiving!" Everyone clinked glasses, then began excitedly talking as they all piled food onto their plates.

Clive slumped onto the couch, sighing happily. "That was delicious. Emmy, that pie was simply perfect." Emmy patted herself on the back, a confident smirk on her face. "I'm glad you liked it! I worked hard to make sure it was fantastic!" Luke flopped down next to Clive, scooting up so he was sitting as straight as he could. "Professor! Can you grab the presents?" Layton nodded, quickly grabbing 4 boxes and sitting down next to Emmy. He handed out each box to everyone. Clive received his sky blue box, Emmy received one wrapped in yellow flowers, Luke got one with blue wrapping paper that had kittens and puppies on it, and Layton held onto a red box that had top hats on it. "We'll start by going down the line. I'll start, then Emmy will open hers, followed by Clive, and then by Luke. Does that sound fair?" Everyone nodded. "Alright. Lets see what I've gotten."

He carefully undid the brown ribbon that adorned the box and neatly tore off the wrapping paper, opening the box with a sort of childish eagerness. He pulled out a small box with a large note messily written on the top. Layton squinted, attempting to make out the words. "Enjoy this archeological gift. From, Emmy." He opened the small box and was met with 5 Azran Egg replicas. "Emmy! These aren't-"

"No, they're not the real thing, but they are made of Azran stone. I had Bronev make them. They're replicas, but they can still be activated if held near an Azran made object, they just won't react the same as they did with Aurora." Layton set the box done and tipped his hat. "Thank you! I think they're simply wonderful." Emmy confidently placed her hands on her hips, smirking. "I knew you'd like them!" She grabbed her box and set it in her lap. "My turn!"

She yanked the ribbon off and tore through the wrapping paper like she was going to lose her gift if she didn't open it immediately. She threw off the lid and excitedly pulled out a box labeled 'inflatable training dummy'. She hugged it, kicking her feet like a child. "Thank you whoever gave me this!!" Layton pointed at himself. "That whoever would happen to be me." She immediately hugged him. "Thank you so much Professor!!" Clive glanced at the sky blue box, his eyes sparkling with curiosity. "I guess it's my turn then."

He undid the ribbon and took off the wrapping paper almost perfectly, not even tearing the paper itself. He opened the lid and peeked inside, then quickly pulled out a set of trinkets that looked like they had been salvaged from the remains of a massive robot. He studied one peculiar gear before quickly bolting up straight. "These are salvaged pieces from my mobile fortress! How in the world did one of you get these?! The whole thing blew up! From what I heard, nothing was left of it!" Luke shook his head, pointing to the gears and trinkets. "Actually, you're wrong. There wasn't anything major left, but the authorities from Scotland Yard found these little trinkets and gears everywhere in Future London, and when they examined them, they found out they were surviving pieces of the fortress! I found out shortly after the professor bailed you out, and I decided to do some investigating for myself. Sure enough, I found all those little knick-knacks in the remains!" Clive hugged Luke, squealing. "I never knew that there were surviving pieces! Thank you so much Luke!" He happily hugged back, then reached for his box bouncing in his seat a bit. "My turn to open!"

He excitedly tore through the paper, pulling off the ribbon, with some trouble, and then pushing the lid of the box open, pulling out a book and a stuffed bear. "A book on veterinary practices and a teddy bear!" He hugged the teddy bear, snuggling up against it like a little kid. "I love it!" He then straightened up and glanced over at Layton and Emmy. "Hold on a second, if you two got each other gifts, then who got me my gift?" Clive sheepishly raised his hand. "It was me. I saw the bear in the store the other day and knew you'd love it. Layton mentioned the gift thing and I just sort of... put it in a box and then forgot about it. I guess someone found it and wrapped it for me. The book I had in my old library back in prison, as it was one of the only things I had to read, and I thought maybe you'd like it. Emmy told me you are quite the reader." Luke hugged Clive, bouncing a bit. "Thank you! Thank you! Thank you! You're the best!" Clive blushed, flicking his hand. "Oh stop it. You're embarrassing me!"

Luke stood up, running towards the stairs. "C'mon Clive! Lets read my new book together! I want to show you how cool veterinarians are!" Clive stood up and walked after him. "I'm coming." He turned back towards Layton and Emmy. "Thank you. I haven't enjoyed thanksgiving in, well, forever! I'll come back down later and spend some time with you all, if Luke doesn't pass out on me first." They laughed and waved to Clive as he went upstairs after Luke. Layton sighed, standing up. "I think I'll go and work on some papers my students turned in. Emmy, would you like to help me?" She got up quickly and nodded. "Sure thing Professor!" The two headed off towards Layton's room, holding their gifts. "So Emmy, one of the students turned in a puzzle and I'm having a bit of difficulty solving it. Would you care to help with that first?" She nodded. "I'm sure it's nothing I can't handle!" Emmy grabbed the paper and sat down next to Layton, pulling out her notebook as a memo. Layton nodded and went straight to work, sighing happily. He had a feeling that the next holiday they all experienced would be quite enjoyable.


	3. April Fool’s Day

April Fool's Day

Summary: Clive and the Layton crew spend some time together during the holidays. Fluff ensues.

Clive never liked pranks. Actually, he despised them. He was always picked on as a kid, and hated the thought of being pranked again, so when April Fool's Day rolled around, he made sure to stay far away from humans. He first woke up at 4 in the morning and made himself a quick breakfast comprised mainly of cereal, then grabbed close to 20 snacks and bolted up to his room, carefully setting them in his satchel for later. He knew Luke had school today, and Layton had to go and teach, but he feared the fact that Emmy wasn't going off to her usual karate class. He made the point to himself to keep as far away from her as possible. She had a reputation for her snarky, prankster personality, and Clive had no business getting wrapped up in that.

"I'll let Luke handle that side of her today." He mumbled to himself, stashing the snacks into his satchel. He heard Luke make a small, quiet groan, and immediately stopped messing with the snacks, threw himself under the covers, and waited silently until he was sure Luke was still asleep. "Not today Clive. Not. Flipping. Today." He shoved the last of the snacks into his bag and then hid his bag underneath all his socks his dresser. "There. Nobody should think to look in that thing." He looked at the clock. "It's only 5:30. Luke won't be up for another hour or so." He glanced at his bookshelf, staring at the massive collection of books he had. "Guess I'll just have to preoccupy myself until the whole house is up." He grabbed a book and cracked it open, flipping to a page he had bookmarked for later. It was a favorite of his, titled 'The Bride and the Angel's Curse.' It was about a young bride who had escaped being in a forced marriage thanks to an angel, who was really a devils advocate, and curses the bride with eternal bad luck, leaving her to try and find a way to reverse the curse. He had read it around a thousand times, but it was still a fantastic book to read, especially when bored. He read for around an hour or so before he heard Luke shift in bed, and eventually wake up. Clive silently rolled onto his side and tried to make it look like he was still asleep, which apparently worked, because Luke paid no mind to him as he woke up and left the room to go eat breakfast.

"Perfect. I just have to keep this up for the rest of the day and then I can scratch this absolute hell of a holiday off my list." He yanked the covers over his head and closed his book, pushing it onto the nightstand. "Maybe I could just sleep through today and only leave my room when necessary? Actually, that doesn't sound like a bad idea! I could use the extra sleep." He tucked himself in so only his hair was peeking out from underneath, and let himself fall back asleep.

It wasn't long until a certain Luke Triton came back in and loudly began completing his morning routine. Clive could make out where he was in the room just by how loud he was being. He made a small groan, attempting to quiet Luke, but to no avail. He assumed the child couldn't hear him, so he tossed the covers off his head. "Luke, could you be a bit quieter? I'm trying to sleep." He pulled them back over his head and heard Luke immediately quiet down, turning his loud voice into a low hum that was almost obscured by the noises from outside. He curled up and sighed, attempting to fall back asleep. Luke peered over at Clive's bed, a frown on his face. "I wonder why he's so unhappy. Usually he's overjoyed to wake up in the morning." He walked over to the calendar they had on the wall and checked the date. "No wonder he's unhappy! It's April Fool's Day! He probably thinks I'm going to pull some dirty prank or something." He grabbed his satchel bag and pulled out his notebook. He sketched out a small drawing and wrote down a few things before tearing it out and setting it on Clive's face. He then ran out the door and downstairs.

Clive awoke to find a small piece of paper lying on his face, which confused him to an extent, until he saw the messy handwriting. "Please don't be a prank... I'm too tired for this..." He read over it, then sighed in relief. "So... it's not a prank? 'Meet with me in the garden behind the flat and we'll hang out together'?" He stared at it skeptically before setting it aside and getting out of bed, still in his pajamas. He headed downstairs, food on the mind. "I'll just get something quick to eat. I should save the snacks for emergencies." He noticed the off-putting silence of the house. Usually it had some noise, whether it be Emmy training or Luke chatting with the parrot, but it was completely silent. Clive stopped at the last step, then looked around for a moment, making sure there was absolutely nothing waiting for him around a corner. He then dashed into the kitchen, opening the pantry and grabbing the bag of sea salt and vinegar chips that were in there, then ran to the couch and buried himself in blankets. "Ok, nothing to disturb me and my very much needed meal, er... snack." He opened the bag and grabbed a small handful, then froze.

He whipped around, scanning the room for something. "I could've sworn I heard Emmy's voice for a second there..." He quickly devoured the chips in his hand and then closed the bag before throwing the blankets over himself and making it look like the blankets were all piled up with him underneath. He heard the floor creak and footsteps coming towards him. He began to panic, listening to the footsteps coming right next to him.

"Weird. I thought has seen Clive sitting here." The voice was low and calm, like nothing was wrong. Clive almost screamed when he felt a hand on the blanket pile he had made on top of himself. Whoever was there yanked the blankets off of him, causing Clive to let out a high pitched scream. "Clive! Calm yourself! It's just me." Clive looked up and saw Layton staring him in the face, causing him to immediately try to hide the bag of chips behind his back. Layton sighed and placed a hand on his shoulder. "Clive, what in the world are you doing down here? Luke told me you'd be in your room all day." Clive sheepishly glanced down at his feet, biting his lip. "Well, I... uh... ok, I realized it was April Fool's Day and I have no plans to get involved with pranks, so I hid upstairs and planned to sleep all day. Problem being I got super hungry and I had to eat something. I thought maybe you were Emmy or something and I panicked."

Layton pointed to the bag of chips that was sticking out from behind Clive, a displeased look on his face. "I understand that, but could you care to explain why you have the entire bag of chips behind you? That isn't exactly a meal in my book." Clive shamefully handed Layton the bag, lowering his head. "I wanted something I could eat and then get put away as quickly as possible so nobody would notice..." Layton took Clive's hand and pulled him to his feet, walking with him to the kitchen so he could put the bag away. "Why don't you go and get dressed and we can go out for a meal? My treat." Clive nodded, darting off to his room so he could change. He came back moments later wearing a brown suit with a white dress shirt underneath. He wore his signature blue tie and brown dress pants. He unfolded a pair of glasses and pushed them onto his face, adjusting them slightly. "Well, what do you think?" Layton cocked his head, nodding slightly. "It's definitely a new look for you, but I'd say it looks wonderful." Clive nodded, pushing his glasses up. "It's my old outfit from when I was a journalist. I forgot I still had it, and I thought maybe I should wear it instead of my normal clothes, mainly for safety reasons." Layton nodded. "I assume these safety reasons are you being concerned about people recognizing you?" Clive sighed, rubbing his neck. "Yeah... I just don't want to cause a fuss."

The two headed out the door and walked down to a nearby restaurant, chatting the whole way. "So, you were a journalist? Goodness gracious, what else even were you?" Clive laughed, pushing the bridge of his glasses. "Well, I studied engineering for a little while in college, and I studied law for a year or so. I became a journalist because I was able to pick out details quickly and I could create whole stories with scientific facts just from rumors." Layton looked absolutely stunned. "You couldn't have been!" Clive nodded, proudly adjusting his glasses. "But I was! I worked in cahoots with Scotland Yard and gave them details about criminals that were spotted and then passed through rumors. I also filled them in with the best of the cover stories about anything related to criminals and crime." Layton cleared his throat, composing himself. "That's quite the story. I suppose you were into murder mysteries, yes?" Clive nodded. "Yeah. They were the most interesting of stories. I used to read quite a lot of those when I got older." Layton motioned to a small cafe that they were coming up on. "Here, lets head inside."

They both walked in and got a table. Clive ordered a small coffee and French toast and Layton ordered tea and biscuits. The two were there for hours, chatting away while they ate. "So how has Flora been? I haven't seen her in forever, and she's probably still mad at me." Layton took a sip of his tea. "She's been well. I haven't been able to talk to her recently, but I have received plenty of letters that have reassured me that she is doing fine." He set his cup down. "I actually told her about your release recently. She was shocked, to say the least, but I assured her that you were reformed and had changed drastically. She's still hesitant about seeing you again, but I'm sure that you two will make amends when you do get to see each other." Clive straightened up a bit after hearing about Flora. "Well that's good. I was worried she was going to have a grudge on me forever. Luke told me she has gotten better at cooking. Is... is this true?" Layton chuckled, nodding. "Yes, she has in fact gotten much better at it, though she still has trouble with certain recipes, she's improved. Last time we had her over, she brought chocolates she had baked. They were surprisingly good!" Clive took a bite of his toast, glancing down at his plate. "That's good to hear. I was worried that I was going to get fish bones in my meal the next time I had her make something." Layton cocked his head a bit, taking another sip of tea. "Is something wrong? You seem a bit... melancholy." Clive sighed, setting his toast down.

"I'm just not having the best of days. I always hated April Fool's Day, and I feel like I made Luke feel bad because of it, and I'm still mad at myself for being such a jerk to Flora and... ugh." He put his head in his hands. "I'm a mess." Layton chuckled. "You're not a mess, Clive. You were blinded by vengeance when you hurt Flora, and you've changed. As for today, I'm not exactly sure what I can do about it." Clive sighed and looked up at Layton. "You wouldn't hate me if I helped Luke prank Emmy, would you?" Layton shook his head, finishing off his tea and biscuits. "Not at all, as long as the prank is harmless." Clive smiled, devouring the rest of his toast and chugging his coffee. "Well, let's head back! We'll have to pick up Luke from school!" Layton got up and nodded. "Oh! Yes I almost completely forgot about that! We should head out quickly then, no?" Clive nodded, and the two headed out towards Kensington Elementary.

"Where is he? Shouldn't he be out here by now?"

"I was sure he said this was the place. Perhaps I was mistaken?"

"I don't think he would lie to you. Maybe he got in trouble?"

"Surely not! Luke is a good child, and he rarely gets into trouble. Usually when he gets into trouble, it's not his fault."

"Well, something must be wrong then."

A small scream echoed out from the side of the school.

"Was that Luke? It sounded just like him!"

"I think it was!"

Clive took action and bolted to where he heard the scream, stopping when he noticed nobody was there. "Wha- where is Luke?!"

There was a small squeal followed by Clive getting knocked down by something leaping onto his back. He groaned, clutching his forehead, which had hit the ground, and glared at who or what just landed on him, but softened up when he realized that Luke was sitting on top of him. "L-luke! What in the world is wrong with you!" Luke laughed, a goofy grin on his face. "Why so mad? It was just a fun little prank!" Clive felt his cheeks getting hot with embarrassment and anger. "THAT WAS NOT A PRANK! THAT WAS DELIBERATE ACT TO MAKE ME THINK YOU WERE HURT!" He sat up, throwing Luke off of him. "Why in the world would you even think of doing that?!" Luke stood up, pouting.

"I just wanted to have some fun with you..." He walked away, heading around the school and over to Layton. Clive sighed, standing up and quickly jogging after him. "Luke I'm sorry I just-" He was greeted with Luke excitedly hugging him. "Professor said you wanted to prank Emmy with me!" Clive sheepishly avoided glances for a moment. "Erm... yes. I did say that, didn't I..." He sighed, rubbing the back of his neck. "I only wanted to because I thought I was making you unhappy, mainly since I'm one less person to prank." Luke's eyes practically lit up after hearing that. "Well, what're we waiting for? Lets go! Emmy comes home one hour after I do!" He made a beeline for the Laytonmobile, followed by Clive and Layton. They all got in, Clive and Luke sitting in back, and Layton taking the wheel. They drove home in almost complete silence, only interrupted by the quiet murmurs and giggles from Clive and Luke. When they reached Layton's flat, Clive and Luke shot out of the car and off into their room. Layton patiently waited downstairs, sipping some of the leftover tea he had made earlier that day.

Luke flopped onto Clive's bed and watched as Clive laid out a set of papers, all of which were lined with rows of cursive. "So, what's the plan?" Clive traced a finger along each line of cursive. "So, Emmy is super alert, and it'll be hard to pull of a prank, especially if it's a loud one, so I took all the precautions necessary. The plan is that we're going to spook her. Simple enough, and it won't cause harm. I learned she has a heavy fear of spiders, so we'll use that to our advantage." Luke nodded, excitedly perching over the papers. Clive continued. "First, we need to set up the trap we'll use to lure her into the prank itself. I need you to play innocent for me, since you'll be the best contestant for it. I'll hide in wait while you lure her into position, and then I'll spring the prank. Got all that?" Luke gave him the thumbs up. "One question, what do I need to do to get her into position? Surely I can't just say for her to come and look at something. She'll surely know it's a prank!" Clive held up a finger, a sinister smirk on his face. "I need you to act like you got hurt. You'll lure her to the medicine cabinet and then I'll spring the prank on her. Why don't you give me an idea of how you're going to act. Make it believable." Luke got up, and sat down on the floor, turning slightly to look at Clive. "I need you to act like Emmy for me, or at least, act like a concerned adult." Clive nodded.

Luke tilted his hat down and pulled his knees to his chest as he sat on the floor, sniffling. Clive walked over, putting a hand on his shoulder. "What's wrong?" Luke looked up at him, small tears in his eyes. "I... I hurt me knee..." He sniffled again and rubbed his knee, his voice wavering. "It... it hurts..." Clive helped him up. "Lets get you cleaned up, ok?" He sighed and snapped his fingers. "That was really good, and if I didn't realize you were faking it, I would've actually thought you were hurt." Luke smiled, wiping his eyes. "I'm pretty good at it!" Clive stared at him, wide eyed. "How in the world did you make fake tears?! That's so cool!" Luke smiled excitedly. "I learned how to while I was with Flora! She can do it too!" Clive nodded, tapping his chin. Ok, let's get everything we need and then let's get into position." He grabbed a small bit of red paint and a small cup of water by his bed stand, motioning for Luke to sit down. He grabbed the paintbrush in one of the drawers as Luke sat next to him. "Can you give me your leg for a second? I need to make this look as believable as possible." Luke laid one leg down on Clive's lap and watched curiously as Clive opened up the red paint and smeared a bit on his knee. "I'm going to make it look like you scraped it, just so Emmy will believe us." He carefully pushed it around with the paintbrush, occasionally adding water to make it drip. He made a small pocket with tissues and filled it with red paint, then gave it a small push, causing watery red paint to spill out. "Perfect. That's just how it should work." He put in a bit more watery red paint and then closed it up with another tissue. He then handed a small handful of tissues to Luke, slightly covering them in red paint. "Ok, here's the plan with this. I'll carry you downstairs and set you on the floor or something, and I need you to keep that leg as flat as possible. I need you to keep it flat until she goes to examine it. Once she does that, I need you to bend it so the red paint will spill out, making it look like blood. That should get her concerned enough to either go to the medicine cabinet or carry you there, where I'll be waiting to strike." Luke nodded, carefully placing the tissues in his hand over the fake wound, getting them slightly covered in paint even more. Clive picked up Luke and carried him downstairs, setting him on the couch, and then running to the medicine cabinet, crouching behind it as best he could. "Emmy should be back any minute now, so get ready." Luke gave a thumbs up, readying himself.

Emmy came through the door about a minute later, setting her bags down, and noticing Luke, who was sniffling and whimpering while holding his knee. She walked over, leaning over so she could see his face. "Luke? Are you ok?" Luke looked up to meet her face, his eyes filled with tears. "I... I hurt my knee..." He sniffled again. Emmy looked at the knee he was holding, seeing the small handful of slightly bloody tissues. "How? Did you fall or something?" He nodded. "Me and Clive were out at the park and I fell... He brought me home and told me to wait here while he went out to get some bandages, since we were out of them... I don't know if he came back or not..." Emmy placed a hand on his injured knee. "Can I see it?" Luke nodded and moved his hand, pulling his knee up and watching as blood spilled out. Emmy, now in panic, placed Luke's tissue filled hand back on top of the wound. "Stay here, I'm going to see if we have anything to cover this wound. Luke nodded, wiping his eyes. He watched as Emmy ran around the corner towards the medicine cabinet, and out of his sight. Seconds later, there was a high pitched girlish scream, followed by Clive's laughter. Luke got up, not even bothering to deal with his paint covered knee.

He rounded the corner and saw a red faced a Emmy standing over Clive, who was on the floor laughing. "CLIVE!! WHY WOULD YOU DO THAT?!" Clive struggled to speak, attempting to stop himself from laughing. Luke smiled, crossing his arms. "Clive and I wanted to prank you, and it seems we succeeded!" Emmy glanced at Luke, then back at Clive. "So, you faked an injury just to have Clive throw a plastic spider in my face?!" She sighed, face palming. "I suppose I deserve it. I did get you pretty hard this morning Luke, so I won't hold this against you." Luke gave himself a pat on the back. Clive managed to get himself to a standing position, still laughing a bit. "That... was amazing..." He was holding his stomach, breathing heavily. Luke grabbed a massive handful of tissues and cleaned the paint off his leg. Emmy watched curiously. "How did you even do that? There's no way you two went out and bought fake blood." Clive smiled, pointing to himself. "I was the one who pulled that off. I used red paint and water to mimic blood's consistency and I used a couple tissues to make a pocket so when Luke bent his leg, it'd look as thought it was bleeding!" Layton walked in, a pleased smile on his face.

"That was quite an intricate prank you two came up with, and I too found it quite funny." Luke and Clive high-fived, a confident smile on their faces. "I knew it'd be perfect!" Clive flicked the brim of his hat, pointing at Emmy. "The look on your face was priceless!" Emmy glared at him, her hands clenching into fists. "Alright, now you're in for it!" He laughed, dashing off, watching as she bolted towards him. Luke snickered and ran after the two. "Don't worry Clive! I won't let her get you!" Layton quietly watched as the three ran around the house, eventually resulting in Emmy pinning Clive to the couch and Luke scrambling on top of her in an attempt to make her let Clive go. He sighed, watching the soon to be fight that was going on.

"OW! Hey! Could you loosen your grip a bit? You're twisting my arms!"

"Get off of him Emmy!"

"Fat chance! This is payback for gloating!"

"ACK! THAT HURTS YOU KNOW!"

"Stop being dramatic! I'm barely even putting weight on you!"

"Emmy stop! You're hurting him!"

"Enough! All of you!"

They all turned to see Layton standing over them. Luke fell backwards onto the couch, followed by Emmy getting off of Clive. "It was a simple prank. There is no need to get this worked up about it." Emmy lowered her head in shame. "Sorry professor. I got a bit carried away." Layton put a hand on her shoulder. "No need to apologise. We all go a little overboard sometimes." Clive got up, groaning. "Next time though, please don't try to break my arms. That wasn't fun." Emmy smiled. "Alright. Sorry about that." Clive shrugged. "No big deal. Say, why don't we all go out to eat? I'm a bit hungry if I do say so myself." Luke excitedly bolted to the door. "I know just the place!" Emmy motioned for Layton and Clive to follow her and Luke. "Well? No time like the present! Lets go!" The four all headed out and made their way towards the restaurant. Luke skipped alongside Clive. "So Clive, what was with the paper I found lying in your drawer?" Clive stiffened. "What paper?" Luke crossed his arms. "The one that was talking about scaring me with a dragon mask?" Clive panicked, tugging at his shirt collar. "Uh... well..." He bolted off, Luke in his tail. "You can't run from me!" Clive picked up the pace. "We'll see about that!" Emmy sighed, watching the two dart around. "At least they're enjoying themselves." Layton nodded. "Yes, though we should most likely fetch them, as we've reached our destination." Emmy sighed again. "I'll go get them. You get a table for us." Layton nodded and went inside. Emmy dashed off towards where she saw Luke and Clive run off to, noticing Clive had Luke in his arms and wasn't going to let go anytime soon. "Hey! Luke! Stop fooling around! The professor is getting us a table! Lets go!" Luke and Clive both stopped and dashed after her. "So Luke, what's our next prank?" Luke smiled mischievously. "I know the perfect plan. Here's how it'll go..."


	4. Christmas

Christmas

Summary: Clive and the Layton crew spend some time together during the holidays. Fluff ensues.

It was December, and Clive was sitting quietly on his bed looking out the window, watching the snow fall lightly onto the ground. It was not exactly a wonderful time of year for Clive, as it was a constant reminder of his prison experience, as shortly after his attempt at destroying London, December came around, and he was put in prison. Christmas was just around the corner, and he wasn't exactly excited. Christmas was one of his favorite holidays as a child, but he hated it as an adult, as he had nobody to celebrate with. He did receive small presents from Grosky during his time in prison, but it wasn't the same. He missed his childhood life and wished for it to be back. He curled up and threw the blanket he was wearing over his head and wrapped it around himself, sighing. He pulled the sheets that were near him over the blanket he was wearing and curled up as tightly as he could. The heating had broken down earlier that morning, and was being repaired as he was sitting there, which meant that he would have to find a way to stay warm until they could fix it. Everyone had opted to use the fireplace and huddle up by that, but Clive would prefer to be alone on a day like this. He was used to the cold, unforgiving silence of being alone, and preferred to keep it that way when he was shaken with memories of his past. He glanced down at the picture frame by his bed, which held a small photo of him with his parents when he was little. He buried his face in the blankets, trying to stop himself from feeling guilty and vengeful again.

There was a small knock on the door, then the creaking noise of it opening, followed by the shuffling of feet. He shifted his weight a bit, turning himself so he was facing away from the door, without moving from his position. A small thump followed by someone or something laying on top of him made him look up. He slowly turned, spotting Luke lying on top of him. "Oh, hello Luke." He kept his tone low in an attempt to hide his breaking voice. Luke unraveled the set of blankets he had been wearing when he walked in, threw them on top of Clive's, and then darted underneath the heap, popping his head out so he could see. "Hi Clive! Why aren't you downstairs? It's a lot warmer down there." Clive sank into the blankets, tucking his face into them slightly. "I don't know... I'm just in the mood to be alone right now, but I'm fine with a little bit of company, as long as you don't get rowdy." Luke became concerned, looking at Clive with a twinge of worry in his eyes. "Are you ok? You can tell me whats wrong if you'd like. I won't tell another soul." Clive sighed, glancing at Luke.

"I just miss my parents... I think about them every time winter rolls around, mainly because I lost them close to when winter came around. It's also the time when I wind up all depressed due to old memories resurfacing again. It's just a common thing for me now, since I've been dealing with it for years." Luke frowned, staring at the floor. "That seems... really hard for you. But, you have family now don't you?" Clive scoffed, shifting positions so he was more comfortable. "Everyone I loved was either killed, thinks I'm still in prison, or has presumed me to be dead. I have nobody left." Luke shook his head, leaning onto Clive. "That's not true! You have me, and Emmy, and the professor! Sure, you have no biological family left, but you do have us, and I'd say you're family to us!" Clive gave a weak smile, then turned to look out the window. "Sure, I guess, but I still can't really consider myself family to all of you. I did such terrible things to you all. I kidnapped Flora, I killed so many people, I faked being your future self just to gain your trust, and I betrayed you all..." He wiped his eyes, trying to stop himself from crying. Luke immediately hugged him, positioning himself so he was directly underneath Clive. "Don't cry. You've redeemed yourself, and you've been forgiven. Yes, you did do some bad things back then, but you can't change that! There's no point in crying over something you can't change, right?" Clive took a wavering set of deep breaths, composing himself as best he could. "I guess you're right..."

There was a sudden metallic bang, which made Luke and Clive shriek, followed by a blast of warm air that quickly filled the room. An excited shouting came from downstairs, which sounded like someone Clive knew, but didn't recognize at first. He threw the blankets off and ran downstairs, Luke at his heels, and found Don Paolo standing near the wall panel that held the heater. Clive backed up, bumping into Luke. He hadn't seen Don in forever. Last he knew of, Don had helped Layton destroy his Mobile Fortress by giving the Laytonmobile a set of wings, which safely carried him to the ground once it was all over. He hoped that he wouldn't have to encounter anyone he had known then, since they probably still thought of him as an enemy, and promptly attempted to back away silently, but failed as Luke decided to get his attention.

"Don! You fixed it!" Don turned around to face the boy, noticing Clive, and was taken aback. "Clive?! I thought you were jailed!" Clive wholeheartedly expected Don to whip out some kind of mechanical weapon and point it at him, but was absolutely relieved when he didn't. "W-well, I was, b-but Layton bailed me out a-and I'm now in his custody." Don looked surprised. He walked over to Clive and held out a gloved hand. "Well, seeing as you've changed since I last saw you, why don't we start on a different note? I never got to meet you properly, and Layton says you're a good kid, and that man never lies. So, how about it?" Clive sheepishly nodded, shaking his hand. "Yeah, I think it'd be nice to start fresh with everyone I haven't already been forgiven by." Don motioned to his bags, which were neatly situated against the wall. "Layton told me about a certain Christmas party that's going to happen here, and out of luck, I got called to fix the heating system, and I'm going to be staying for that party." Clive whipped around to look at Layton. "Wait, nobody told me about this! Is anyone else going to be at the party?!" Layton nodded, a sly smirk on his face. "Yes, others will be there. However, I have promised not to speak of the people who will be there, so you'll have to wait and see."

Clive shrugged, adjusting his cap a bit. "Alright then, I'll wait right here on the couch." He walked to the couch and flopped down. Sighing quietly, he pulled his hat down over his eyes, attempting to fall asleep to pass the time. He almost managed to, but was interrupted by Luke scrambling to get on top of him. Clive groaned, slightly moving his hat so he could see Luke, who was perched on top of his legs, then moved it back over his eyes. "Luke... I'm trying to sleep..." Luke scooted farther forwards, positioning himself so he was directly on top of Clive's stomach. "You've been asleep all day!" Clive rolled his eyes and scoffed. "And what makes you think that? For all you know, I could've been working on machinery." Luke crossed his arms and shook his head. "I know you've been sleeping all day because I came to check on you every hour. There's a science project I have and I need to check it hourly, so whenever I needed to check that, I checked on you." Clive was genuinely surprised by hearing this. He sighed and attempted to turn onto his side, but was unable to due to Luke not getting up from his spot. He groaned again and reached to push Luke off of him, and was met with someone grabbing his hand. "Clive, you have been sleeping for an awfully long time. Why don't you help us with the Christmas decorations? We still need assistance with those." Clive moved his hat with his free hand and saw Layton carefully holding his hand away from Luke. He sighed and sat up, getting off the couch and fixing his hat. "Well, what do you need me to do?" Layton showed him to a stack of boxes, all of which were filled with Christmas themed decor. "You could help all of us with getting these decorations up around the house." Clive shrugged and opened up one of the boxes, taking out a handful of decorations and running off to put them somewhere.

There was a small knock on the door, followed by the opening of the lock and the door. Don Paolo's voice echoed through the room, though to Clive it just sounded like excited, muffled yelling. He set up the last of the wreaths in his hands and trotted over to the door, stopping the moment he saw a familiar face. Flora was standing in the doorway, dressed in a lovely coat and dress, holding a small purse, and wearing a small scarf. Her hair was down and draped around her neck rather than being pulled back into a ponytail, and a red bow was neatly tied on the back of her head. Clive almost bolted out of the room in fear, but found his legs had glued him to where he was standing. He stared at Flora, who didn't notice the fact that he was standing there, and made a meek attempt at leaving the room, causing Flora to spot him. She smiled and dashed over to him, enveloping him in a slightly chilly hug. "Clive! It's been forever since I last saw you! How have you been?" Clive looked absolutely dumbfounded. He shifted his weight and backed up a bit, making Flora release him. "I-I-I... Uh... W-well, I've b-been fine lately... Uh..." He tugged at the collar of his shirt. "Why in the w-world are you being s-so nice to me?" He averted his eyes from her, staring at his shoes. "The last time I saw you, I kidnapped you and tried to destroy London... There's no reason you should be this nice to me." He mumbled quietly. Flora booped Clive's nose, a joyful smile on her face. "Luke told me all about how much you've changed! He said you're super nice and fun to be around, and you aren't as rude as you used to be!" She motioned to Layton, who was standing on a step-stool, attempting to get Christmas lights up onto the fireplace. "The professor gave me an invitation to the party he's holding here, and when I caught wind that you'd be there too, I promised him I'd come! From what I heard, some other people are coming too. I think they were D-"

"Flora! Don't spoil it for him! I said it'd be a surprise!" Luke was leaning into the room, a set of wreaths draped over his head. Clive snorted, covering his mouth in an attempt to hide his laughter. Flora hid her smile behind her scarf, but it was clear she found Luke's appearance hilarious. "Luke, you realize that you have 4 Christmas wreaths on your head, right?" Clive snickered, pulling his hat over his face to hide his enjoyment. Luke stormed over and politely tipped his hat to Flora before poking at Clive's sides, causing him to squeak and leap backwards. "No! We're not doing that today! Not happening!" Luke inched closer, going into a position to pounce. Clive began backing up rather quickly until he bumped into Don, who grabbed his arms and locked them behind his back. "Don! Don't do this! Please!" Don smirked, tightening his hold on Clive's arms. "Sorry Clive, but I think you deserve it." Clive struggled and bucked against Don's grip. "Don please! I beg you! Don't let me die here!" He flopped back onto Don, making it look as dramatic as possible. Don merely shrugged and pushed him towards Luke. Clive shrieked and pushed against him, trying to fall backwards to escape the arm lock and flee. Flora was almost on the floor from laughing at the display.

Luke pounced, digging his fingers into Clive's sides, forcing a very high pitched scream to burst out of him before he broke into laughter. Layton looked over and sighed, getting down from the step stool. "Luke, Don, please don't wear Clive out. I'd appreciate him not taking another nap." Luke gave a quick thumbs up. "Sure thing Professor!" He motioned for Don to let Clive go, and watched as Clive fell backwards in an exhausted heap. Don lifted him up and laid him on the couch. "I didn't know you could wear him out that easily!" Luke shrugged. "I only do that to him when he's rude to someone. It's the perfect punishment for being rude!" Clive pushed himself up, angrily glaring at Luke. "You just do that for the sake of making me squeak, you... tiny blue thing!" Luke laughed, shrugging. "So? It's fun to watch you squeak. It doesn't seem like you at all." Clive felt his face growing red with embarrassment. Luke held back a snicker, watching as Clive curled up into an angry ball and flopped onto his side like a child. Flora sat down next to him and patted his head, looking at Luke with puppy eyes. "Come one, Luke. Don't be mean to him on Christmas! Hurry up and apologise to him." Luke sighed in defeat, knowing that arguing with Flora about this would only make it worse. "Sorry..." Flora smiled happily. "Much better. Now, why don't we all get the Christmas presents we all have and put them under the tree?" Clive sat up and dashed upstairs, Luke hot on his heels, and Don Paolo close behind. Flora pulled out a few small, poorly wrapped gifts out of her coat pocket and set them under the tree.

Moments later, Clive came running down with a pile of presents in his arms that had completely obscured his head from view. Luke came behind him and was holding around 17 bags of presents, all of which were very neatly wrapped. Don Paolo came walking down holding one gigantic box of smaller boxes, and set it down under the tree with a loud clank, most likely from the smaller boxes. Flora looked absolutely dumbfounded and just stared in awe at the mass of presents that were sitting beneath the tree. Layton glanced over and just sort of stared for a second or two before he went back to putting Christmas decorations up. The doorbell rang for a moment, and then rang again. Luke dashed to the door and opened it, then screamed for just a moment. Flora and Clive both panicked and made a move to get to the door, but stopped once a cloaked figure walked in, carefully holding Luke in his arms. Layton got walked over and tipped his hat to the figure. "Good to see you again Descole. I'm glad you could make it." Descole nodded, setting Luke down and shutting the door, being careful to not get his cloak stuck in it. "Likewise. How has everyone been? I overheard a certain person named Clive was here with you? I'd like to meet him, seeing as Flora already knows me." Layton motioned to Clive, who looked like he was ready to leap off the couch and make a mad dash for the door. He quickly get down and brushed himself off, playing it off like nothing had happened. Descole held out his hand and smirked. "The names Jean Descole. It's a pleasure to make your acquaintance." Clive shook his hand. "I'm Clive Dove. It's nice to meet you!"

Descole turned to Layton and smiled. "It's been ages since I last saw you Hershel. How have you been? I assume the little boy has been good?" Luke angrily stamped his foot. "I'm not a little boy! I'm 14!" Descole laughed, patting Luke's head. "You may be a teenager, but you're still just a short as you were when I last saw you." Luke pouted and stood on his tiptoes, stretching himself as tall as he could. "I'm not as short as I used to be!" Clive shook his head, comparing his own height to Luke's. "No, you're still pretty short. But, being short is pretty cool. You can fit in small spaces, and you're more agile than tall people like me." Luke sighed and pulled Descole's cloak over his body, curling up in it for warmth. Descole looked down at him. "You're cold, aren't you?" Luke shakily nodded. Flora came rushing into the cloak and huddled up against Luke. Descole just stood silently and shifted his cloak so the two could fit better. Clive glanced over at the fireplace and frowned. "No wonder those two are cold. The fire's almost dead." He walked over to the firewood and tossed more in, fanning it so it would light the fire quicker. He sat down by it and held his hands out in an attempt to warm them. Descole walked over and carefully removed his cloak and pulled it over Clive's head. Luke and Flora immediately dashed underneath and curled up against Clive, pulling themselves through the opening in the cloak. Clive carefully situated himself and shifted the cloak so it was wrapped around the three. Layton looked over at the pile of blankets that sat nearby, then grabbed one and threw it over himself. "I recommend that you all grab a blanket and hold onto it for the time being. I wouldn't want anyone to be cold."

Don and Descole grabbed one and neatly made it into a sort of cloak, then bolted onto the couch and curled up against each other for warmth. Layton sat down beside them and let himself sink into the warmth of the blanket. Emmy came walking in with a small tray of snacks and was greeted with the sight of everyone curled up in blankets and Descole's cloak. She set the tray down and walked over to Layton, leaning over the back of the couch. "You all look like you're freezing. I brought some snacks so you all could have something to eat while I finish up cooking dinner." She headed back into the kitchen just as quickly as she came in. Clive picked up Luke and Flora, carrying them over to the snack tray. He sat back down and set the two on the ground so they could get to the snacks. The six sat and chatted while they ate until Emmy came back in with oven mitts on. "Hey! Dinners ready if any of you want some! The dining room is surprisingly warm too!" She watched as Clive almost dropped Luke and Flora in an attempt to grab them and run to the dining room. Layton and Descole followed closely behind, and Don Paolo walked with Emmy.

Sitting on the table was a variety of food, ranging from pies and pastries to turkey and olives. Clive and Luke were staring wide eyed at the food in front of them, practically drooling over it. Flora looked at them with concern. "Both of you, please save food for the rest of us." They both nodded, not taking their eyes off the table. Descole walked up behind Clive and pulled his cloak off him, then carefully placed it back on himself. Layton took the blankets and folded them before placing them off to the side, then went to seat himself at the table, motioning for the others to follow. Don sat down next to Layton, with Descole taking up the other seat beside Layton. Emmy sat herself next to Luke and Descole, Luke sat next to Clive, and Clive sat next to Flora, and Flora sat next to Don. They all quickly grabbed food, Luke and Clive taking around their own weight in food, while everyone else took enough to fill them up. Flora glanced suspiciously at Clive. "Um, Clive? Since when did you eat like Luke? The last time I was with you and Layton, you were as picky as ever." Clive shrugged, smiling. "See, I had to pull off the facade that I was a much more mature, older version of Luke, which meant I had to make it seem as though he had grown out of his voracious eating style. Truth is, I'm just as big of an eater as him. Remember how many times I asked to go get tea? Those tea breaks were my only chance to eat close to what I normally ate, as I used to devour all the biscuits that came with to compensate." Flora nodded in slight awe. "Huh. I thought you were a picky person. I never knew you were like that." Clive laughed, taking a bite of chicken. "It was much harder to cover up my natural demeanor than I originally thought. I struggled to hide it multiple times during our adventure, but somehow I managed." He took another bite of chicken and glanced at Luke. "So Luke, would you happen to possibly... spill the beans on the present you got me?" Luke almost choked on his food, coughing for a moment before regaining his composure. "Absolutely not! It's a surprise, and it's going to stay that way!" Clive snickered, popping an olive into his mouth. "And who says I haven't already found out?" Luke angrily glared at him. "That's cheating! You can't do that!" Flora rolled her eyes and jabbed her fingers into Clive's side, causing him to squeak and whip around to face her. "Hey! What was that for?!" Flora sighed and pointed to Emmy and Layton, who were giving him and Luke a look of disapproval. The two quickly went back to eating, shamefully glancing at each other.

Don pointed his fork at Clive and smiled. "Come on, a little fun never hurt anybody, right? Why not enjoy ourselves. I personally don't mind them having little fun arguments. It lightens the mood a bit." Descole nodded, moving his cloak out of the way. "I do enjoy them as well. Let them have their fun, Hershel. Them bickering a tad bit isn't all bad." Emmy and Layton looked at each other in defeat. "Alright, a little fun wouldn't hurt." Clive smirked and silently flicked Luke's hat off and hid it in his suit. Luke patted his head in confusion, then glanced over at Clive, who was calmly eating his food. He glanced at Luke, then back at his food and continued eating. Flora giggled, pointing to Clive's suit in an attempt to show Luke where his hat went. Luke stared blankly at her before realizing what she was trying to say. He attempted to grab Clive's suit and pull the hat out, but wound up almost falling out of his chair and nearly sending his plate off the table and onto the floor. Clive caught him and set his hat back where it belonged, then helped him back up. Luke fixed his hat and gave Clive a light shove. "Why do you always pick on me? Why not Emmy or Flora?" Clive shrugged and took a bite of corn. "Because you're the shortest one out of all of us." He snickered at the comment, watching Luke pout at him angrily. "I told you, I'm not short!" Flora laughed, pointing at Descole and then back at Luke. "Actually, you are the shortest. Descole said so."

Layton cleared his throat rather loudly, gaining everyone's attention. "It seems we are all finished eating. Why don't we gather by the tree and open the gifts we got for each other?" Luke, Clive, and Flora all excitedly ran to the tree and situated themselves around it. Descole and Don Paolo sat down on the couch, Emmy sat down in a small wooden chair she had pulled up from the dining room, and Layton sat in the large armrest chair. Clive and Luke both helped pass out gifts, placing them by their respective recipient in neatly made towers, starting from the largest gift as the base and then putting smaller ones on top until there were no more gifts to hand out. Each person had one gift from everyone in the room, making a total of 6 gifts per person. Emmy picked up her first gift and set it in her lap. "Alright. To make this a much smoother process, we'll have each person open all their gifts and then move in clockwise fashion to the next until we all have opened our gifts. I'll start, then the professor will go, then Flora, Clive, Luke, Descole, and ending with Don Paolo. Sound fair?" Everyone nodded.

They each tore open their gifts one by one until everyone had opened their respective gifts. Emmy had gotten some exercise bandages, a box of cookies, an inflatable training dummy, a new set of clothes, a small mechanical wristwatch that would track how long one had been training for, and a pair of steel toed boots. Layton got a new suitcase (his old one was tattered and torn from all the wear and tear it had been through), a brand new tea set to replace the old one they got in Dropstone, a handmade book of puzzles, a box of old trinkets and antiques from the Reinhold Manor, a fencing sword decorated with intricate Azran symbols, and a small music box made to resemble the Elysian Box. Flora got a mix of seeds for gardening, a massive book on recipes, a new set of pots, a small wooden sculpture of Big Ben carved using a pocket knife, a new dress with a corset, and a small robotic dog that resembled the one Luke and Layton got in St. Mystere. Clive got a mix of mechanical parts that came from his Mobile Fortress (he never found out how or where they were found), a set of clothes that a journalist would wear, a box of gear shaped cookies, a box of puzzles, a satchel bag, and a mix of old mechanical parts that seemingly came from the robots of St. Mystere. Luke got a teddy bear, a veterinary training kit, a small bag of candy from Misthallery, the first 3 books from his favorite dragon based book series, a new blue sweater to replace his old one, and a box of magic tricks from Monte D'or. Descole got a set of Azran artefacts, a book on the tales of the Azran, a pendant that almost matched Aurora's, a set of wine glasses decorated with intricate patterns, a mini Bostonius that could fly around like a drone, and an ancient Azran sword excavated from the Azran Sanctuary in Froenborg. Don Paolo got old prototype robots from St. Mystere, a box of coffee beans from Folsense, a box of 100-300 piece floor puzzles, a new coat, a toolbox, and a homemade cake.

Clive watched quietly as everyone excitedly showed off their gifts, hugging everyone, and all around enjoying themselves. He noticed that his gifts were in much smaller in quantity than everyone else's, not that he cared, but it still bothered him. He saw Layton turn to Emmy and whisper something to her, and then saw as whatever got whispered get passed down the line. Layton nodded to Luke and Flora, pointing towards Clive, but not directly at him, attempting to be discrete about the action. Flora and Luke both leapt on top of Clive, covering his eyes with his hat. Clive frantically tried to push them off of him, but wound up getting stuck underneath the two. Footsteps clicked and clacked around him. He made an attempt to push his hat out of his face, but quickly found his arms were pinned to his sides and being held there by Luke. "Come on you two! This isn't funny!" He bears boxes suddenly clattering to the floor, then the chattering of voices. Both Luke and Flora shot off of him and pushed him up. Clive frantically shoved his hat up and out of the way before staring at the mass of wrapped up presents in front of him. "What's with all this?! These... these aren't all for me, are they?" Emmy nodded, grabbing one and handing it to him. "The professor and Luke had the idea that you should get something special this year, you know, with those years in prison and all the years of trauma you had to deal with." Clive hesitantly took the present from Emmy and quietly opened it, revealing a clear box of trinkets that Clive immediately recognized.

"How... How did you get all these?! They were lost in the explosion!" Don pointed to himself, a proud smirk on his face. "Turns out not everything was lost! Grosky and Chelmey let me scope out the area surrounding the house and I found a couple things that somehow survived. I cleaned them up a bit, and then handed them over to Luke, who had the grand idea to give them to you as a Christmas present." Clive opened the box and looked at every single trinket like it was an ancient artefact that would break if he wasn't careful. "Old action figure pieces, tiny machines, torn books, wait- is that my old journal?!" He carefully removed it from the box and opened it up, gently sweeping the ashes off the pages. Scrawled along the burnt and crisp pages were rows and rows of messy cursive, as well as tiny doodles along the edges of the pages, although most of them were either burnt up or too smudged to make out. A few old photos were taped in the journal, many of them burnt and singed, but one in particular looked as though it had survived. It was pale and brown, burnt along the edges and covered in ashes. He carefully blew the ashes off and stared at the picture. It was of him when he was young, playing around near Gressenheller, his parents close by. A small note was written next to it, smudged and smeared along the page. Clive squinted at it, his face practically against the page. "My mommy, daddy, and me. Age 9, June 10th." He couldn't make out the year, but that didn't matter to him. He gently closed the journal and hugged it, then set it down and hugged Don. Don gave him a pat on the back, glancing over at Layton.

"Ok, Clive, could you please get off of me? You have more presents to open." Clive hastily let go and sat back down, grabbing another present. He opened them quickly and stacked them around himself, creating a fortress of gifts. He had been given multiple boxes of items salvaged from Future London and the remains of his childhood home, trinkets from Future London that were taken from the wreckage, pictures taken during the events of what had been nicknamed 'Unwound Future' by Layton, old pieces of the massive clock in the Midland Road clock shop, the letter he had sent to Luke and Layton about how he was the supposed 'Future Luke', a huge box of prototype gadgets Don Paolo had made and stopped using, multiple types of sweets and pastries made by Flora, a tiny box containing an egg from the same parrot that Luke and Clive had befriended, a bag of hint coins and other small items taken from around London and Future London, and a box of stuffed animals in ranging sizes. Clive looked at Layton for some kind of explanation, gesturing to the gifts and then to him in a confused fashion. Layton smiled and pointed to Luke and Flora, who were practically beaming with pride.

"Did you two plan this?" He picked up one of the stuffed animals and sat it in his lap, staring intently at the two. Flora nodded, hugging Luke. "To be perfectly honest, it was Luke's idea. He told me all about how sad you got around this time, and how many depression naps he saw you were taking, and decided that we should give you something to make you feel better. This was the result of a couple weeks worth of planning." Clive straightened up a bit, realizing what Flora had said. Small, joyful tears swelled up in his eyes, clouding his vision. He bolted up and hugged Luke and Flora, quietly sniffling. "You guys are the best. I don't know what I'd do without you." They hugged him back, curling up against him. Layton got up and motioned towards the stairs. "Well, it's quite late. Why don't we all go and get some rest. I'm sure we're all very tired." Descole pulled his legs in and tucked himself into his cloak. "If you don't mind, I can just as easily sleep here. Someone else can use my guest bed." Don wrapped himself up in multiple blankets and leaned back into the couch cushions. "I can sleep down here as well. I usually sleep on my couch at home anyways." Layton nodded and tipped his hat politely. "Well alright then. I'll be in my room if anyone needs me." He went upstairs quietly. Flora hurried after him, holding her dress up so she didn't trip on the way up the stairs. Emmy stretched and flopped down in one of the chairs. "I think I'll just sleep down here. I'm too tired to go upstairs." Luke and Clive both tipped their hats and bolted upstairs to their room. Luke set his hat on his nightstand and started for the door. "I'll be right back. I need to grab my teddy. I won't take long." Clive nodded silently as Luke left and set his hat down on top of the box of trinkets he had set on his nightstand.

He glanced out the window, and for a split second, he could've sworn he saw his parents staring in at him. He shot up and began frantically looking out the window, searching for any sign that he wasn't hallucinating. After a few moments, he gave up and turned to go sit back on the bed and wait for Luke. The moment he turned around, he saw his mom and dad standing before him. He could feel tears trickling down his face as he reached out for them. "Mom...? Dad...? Is that... really you?" They smiled at him and in the blink of an eye, they were gone. Clive fell back onto the bed, hugging himself tightly. Luke opened the door and peered in, seeing Clive on his bed. "Clive? Are you ok?" Clive looked over at Luke with tearful eyes, a bright, happy smile on his face. "Yeah. I'm just fine." Luke stepped inside and closed the door. "Why are you crying?" Clive wiped the tears off his face, staring out the window. "I just saw something that made me happier than I could've ever imagined." Luke jumped onto his bed and tilted his head, confused. "What do you mean?" Clive laughed, glancing at the box of trinkets, which had been opened, and his hat, which was placed on top of portrait of his family. "It was just... something important to me. Something very, very important, but it's nothing you should concern yourself with." He glanced back out the window and smiled with teary eyes, watching as two faint silhouettes faded away into the moonlight, waving.


End file.
